Books Blog : love, teens, familieshttp://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/tags/love/teens/families/default.aspxTags: love, teens, familiesenCommunityServer 2008 SP1 (Build: 30619.63)A Tree Grows in Brooklynhttp://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/2009/09/30/a-tree-grows-in-brooklyn.aspxWed, 30 Sep 2009 14:04:00 GMT9a7b961d-7882-4302-b701-732ca0e566f2:1875KickinLibrarian@evpl1http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/rsscomments.aspx?PostID=1875http://evpl.org/community/blogs/books/archive/2009/09/30/a-tree-grows-in-brooklyn.aspx#comments<p><img height="400" width="232" src="http://domesticwonder.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/tree_grows_in_brooklyn.jpg" alt="A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" style="float:left;margin:10px;" />When I went home a little while back, I saw a copy of <em>A Tree Grows in Brooklyn</em> in my little&nbsp;sister&#39;s room.&nbsp; Feeling a bit nostalgic, I went home and started reading the battered copy on my bookshelf.&nbsp; I don&#39;t know how many times I have read this book (almost as many as Harper Lee&#39;s <em>To Kill a Mockingbird</em>), but I always come away feeling like I have just read it for the first time.</p>
<p>Betty Smith published <em>A Tree Grows in Brooklyn</em>&nbsp;in 1943 and it was an immediate success.&nbsp; The story focuses around Francie Nolan, a young girl growing up in the early twentieth century with a fun-loving, but&nbsp;alcoholic father, realistic mother, and younger brother.&nbsp; Struggling against poverty and isolation from her peers, Francie finds solace in the library where she&nbsp;plans to read every book in the collection.&nbsp; The story continues over the next five years of Francie&#39;s life.&nbsp; Her struggle to gain her mother&#39;s love, her desire to better her own life, and finding love are all issues that Francie encounters growing up in Brooklyn.&nbsp; </p>
<p>I don&#39;t want to give away too much of the story for those of you that haven&#39;t read it because <em>A Tree Grows in Brooklyn</em> is a book that I believe everyone should read at least once.&nbsp; Francie and her family have struggles that many people can relate to, and you can&#39;t help but wish to be the friend Francie so desperately needed.&nbsp; If you are wandering around the library one day searching for something to read, remember to grab a copy of this book.&nbsp; </p><div style="clear:both;"></div><img src="http://evpl.org/community/aggbug.aspx?PostID=1875" width="1" height="1">reviewsfictionbookshistorical fictionteensfamiliesMothers &amp; DaughterspoorWorld War I -- Fictiongrowing uplove